Ferret shelters around the country are overcrowded and straining at the seams. It's bad and getting worse. The operators of ferret shelters give their time and money every day, often sacrificing their own needs to provide food, shelter, vet care and love to thousands (really...thousands) of ferrets who have been lost, abused or often simply dumped by people who can't be bothered to follow through on their commitment to their ferret.

Support Our Shelter (S.O.S.) aids many needy ferret shelters each year. On this website and through the Ferret Mailing List, we distribute the FML Shelter List which gives the name, address and vet info for shelters all over the world with their current status (in terms of bills, number of ferrets, etc.) We have been in operation since September 1997 and became a 501(c)3 non-profit organization in January 2001 so our donors may receive tax deductions for their gifts.

Most of the funds S.O.S. raises go into a general pool for periodic distribution to the shelters on the list. Support is provided in the form of payment to shelter vets or gift certificates for ferret supplies. We also administer donations designated for a specific shelter or specific emergency rescues of large numbers of ferrets. The women of Support Our Shelters receive no compensation.

Support Our Shelters hopes that you will join us by becoming involved with a shelter near you.

You can become involved in helping a shelter in many ways. Just contact them...they'd love to hear from you. The FML Shelter List is compiled twice a year and contains the most current information which shelters of the Ferret Mailing List have made available.If you'd like to Send a Gift to a Shelter:You can encourage and support the wonderful people who work so hard for the ferrets we love by sending e-mail greetings, donating ferret gifts or supplies, contributing to paying expenses, or volunteering hands-on help.Contributions may be made directly to their vets to cover bills. Or choose a shelter each month and send them $5 or $10.Ferret Supplies: If you want to mail supplies to shelters, you can order them from one of the catalog companies and have them shipped directly instead of paying postage twice. Be sure to tell the company and the shelter what you are doing.

You Can Help SOS- see what you can get in return.This page contains all the current SOS fundraisers. Please visit it to see how you can help.

If you are a shelter in need of bedding sets please contact the Crafty Weasels.

They have kindly offered to supply hammocks and sleep sacks to ferret shelters who need them.

Support Our Shelters (S.O.S) is a 501(c)3 non-profit charity.Donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.You are welcome to specify a specific shelter to receive your gift, or we will choose the neediest shelters for you.EIN# 23-3062176

S.O.S. can now accept donations through https://www.paypal.comPlease use ferretshelterfund@supportourshelters.org as the pay to and note the shelter name or cause you are donating to.

Melatek donated $1. from each Ferretonin Implant sold through SOS during 2006 for a total of $500. donated to the Black-Footed Ferret Recovery program and the Prairie Wildlife Research Organization. During 2010 and on going donations will go to help the Black Footed Ferrets.Thank you SOS shelters for making this possible.During 2007, 2008, and 2009 Melatek donated to SOS. This helped us help SOS shelters. A special thanks goes out to Tim Cairns of Melatek for supporting SOS.

Please visit Melatek on the web for more information or if you are a shelter wishing to order or would like to donate implants to a shelter please email Sharon with SOS.

SOS would like to acknowledge and thank Jeanne and her father, Floyd Carley, who founded The Ferret Education Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) non profit corporation whose goal is the prevention of the abuse and abandonment of domesticated ferrets by providing the public, humane organizations and ferret clubs and shelters with educational materials on the ferret's true nature and special needs. The foundation is currently in the process of raising the funds necessary to produce these materials which it hopes will prevent the acquistion of a ferret by anyone unprepared to meet the ferret's needs for its lifetime. For more information about the foundation, write to The Ferret Education Foundation, 410 Mountain Home Road, Woodside, CA 94062.

SOS would like to thank our friends at Ferret Depot and Totally Ferret for their support.